Automatic switch mechanism for street-railways.



No'. 7|0-,432. I Patented Oct. 7, 1902 n. COTTBELL.

AUTUMATIOSWITGH MECHANISM FOR STREET RAILWAYS.

(Application filed May 13,1902.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE D. COTTRELL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE'ISLAND.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH MECHANISM FOR STREET-RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,432, dated October '7, 1902.

Application filed May 13, 1902. Serial No. 107,204. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom! it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J ESSE D. COTTRELL, of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Switch Mechanisms for Street- Railways; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings making a part of the same, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

Figure 1 is a plan of my invention, showing end of car and double switch. Fig. 2 is another plan showing single switch. Fig. 3 is a view of the automatic operating device attached to the car. Fig. i is a vertical section of same. s Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the segmental lever. Fig. 6 shows the lever for setting the switching device. Fig. 7 is a side view of car-platform, showing the devices for the vertical operation of the segmental lever.

The object of my invention is to produce reliable and convenient mechanism for automatically switching railway-cars which shall at all times be under the easy adjustment and control of the motorman; and it consists in the devices and the arrangement thereof, as hereinafter described! In the drawings, A, Fig. 1, is a car running upon rails 13 (J.

D is an iron plate set in the ground,to which is pivoted a forked lever E, the small end of which is pivoted to a bar F, which connects the switch-rails G H.

I is a vertical cylinder attached to the car and containing the automatic devices for operating the switch through the forked lever E.

J is an upright shaft projecting beyond the cylinder at either-end. To the top of the shaft J is attached a lever K and at the bottom a segmental lever L, having a roller P P at each extremity. Around the shaft J is a spiral spring M, which'is confined between the bottom of the cylinder I and acollar N, fixed to said shaft. Over the lever K is a fixed guide 0, having a doubly-inclined under surface terminating in slots QQ.

The operation of my invention is as follows: As the car approaches the switch the motorman turns the lever K to the right or left, depending upon the direction which he wishes his car to take. As the lever K is turned it is forced downward by means of the inclined surface of the guide 0, along which it must of the forked lever E, and the roller of the lever L travels along the side of the tine,which increases in width in the direction of the pivotal point, carrying the lever to one side and bringing about the adjustment of the switch,

as will be readily understood. When the adjustment of the switch is completed, one of the rollers P on the end of the lever L will have reached its slot R in the lever E, and the continued movement of the car will create a pressure against the shoulder S of the slot R sufficient to give the lever L a rotary movement, which rotary movement of the lever L communicates a rotary movement to the shaft .I,.which releases the lever K from the slot Q, when the lever K, through the action 'of the spring M, will be carried back to its original position, and also the shaft J. The shaft J being thus carried upward elevates the lever L and carries it out of the reach of other objects as the car proceeds on its way until such time as the motorman may make another adjustment for another switch. It will thus be readily seen that the only hand manipulation required will be the preliminary adjustment ofthe lever K by the motorman as the car approaches the switch, the further operation of the mechanism being whollyautomatic. Whenevera single switch is sufficient for the purposes desired, one tine of the forked lever E may be omitted, as shown in Fig. 2, the form of the tine retained being, however, the same as shown in Fig. 1.

The cylinder I may be attached to the truck of the car, as shown in Fig. 7, and extend upward through the car-platform without being attached to the latter, which will have the effect of preventing-the communication of any vertical or rocking movement of the car to the segmental lever L.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-' 1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a car, of a tubular sleeve vertically mounted thereon, a rod mounted in said sleeve, switch-contacting means carried by said, rod, a lever for turning said rod, and means carried by the lower end of the rod for thereon, a vertical shaft operating within said sleeve and receiving a rotary movement through a lever attached to the top thereof, and a segmental lever provided with rollers at its lower end adapted to engage and opcrate a railway-switch, substantially as set forth.

4. In a device of the class described, the

combination with a car, of a vertical sleeve carried thereby, a rod rotatably mounted in said sleeve, a lever for rotating said rod, a street-railway switch engaging rollers carried by the aforesaid rod, and spring actuated means for returning the rod to its normal position after it has actuated the aforesaid railway-switch, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a street-railway car, of a vertical sleeve carried thereby, a rod rotatably mounted on said sleeve, a lever forv actuating said rod, an incline guide for the lever, said guide being provided with a cutaway portion for retaining the lever and holding the rod in contact with the street-railway switch, and a device carried by the said rod for causing the lever to return to its normal inoperative position after contact with the railway-switch, substantially as set forth.

JESSE D. OOTTRELL.

Witnesses:

WALTER B. VINCENT, NELLIE II. FISHER. 

